850th/857th BS

Carscaddon Crew (1)

After departing from Harrington on the evening of the 4th of July 1944, the crew encountered a German night fighter just over the coast of France.   In the ensuing confusion and apparent impending loss of the ship, the bailout order was given, and six men jumped, but Hasty had no parachute and Carscaddon, regaining some control of the ship while Hasty put out fires, managed to return to the UK, though the plane crash landed at Ford Field, Sussex and was a total loss. Otis Murphy became an evader and returned to the UK in the fall of 1944.   Joseph Denaro, Paul Stralka, William Granbery, and Laurie Salo were evaders for a short time but were turned in by collaborators masquerading as Resistance Escape helpers - they were all interned in the Buchenwald death camp of the Nazis.  Charles Cernik was captured upon landing and spent the rest of the war in Stalag Luft #4, where at least fourteen other Carpetbaggers were also interned.  Oliver Carscaddon received a Silver Star in September of 1944 from General Doolittle for his actions of 4/5 July 1944. Carscaddon remained in the Air Force after the war and was killed in a target-towing accident in 1955.

After recuperating from minor injuries incurred in the crash-landing, Carscaddon again flew for the Group, his first mission after the incident was on 6/7 Aug '44 with Fish as Pilot.  Following that mission he flew seven more missions in August, but by the end of September had only flown 17 missions total, not enough to keep him from staying on to finish a tour.  During the bombing period of early 1945, he was again shot up by enemy aircraft, with wounded on board, but again survived to land on friendly territory.

Picture credit: Charles E. Cernik

Names were taken from John Walker's copy of the 850th BS History:

Back Row, L-R:
Oliver C. Carscaddon, Jr.     - Pilot
Otis W. Murphy                - Co-Pilot       (Evader)
William L. Granbery, III      - Bombardier     (EVR/POW)
Seymour Gleichenhaus          - Navigator      Not shown on Air Echelon flight to UK.

Front Row, L-R:
Paul A. Stralka, Jr.          - Aerial Gunner  (EVR/POW)
Laurie A. Salo                - Gunner         (EVR/POW)
Franklin J. Hasty             - Gunner         (WIA) 
William R. Turner             - Engineer       (Orphaned) returned to 849th BS at Eye.
Charles E. Cernik             - Radio Operator (POW)

At Harrington, Hasty became the Engineer and Salo the Dispatcher.  Carscaddon had flown only four combat missions before the incident. Not in the picture: Joseph C. Denaro, Navigator (EVR/POW) and Nelma R. Wood, Armorer Gunner who was orphaned.

Ater the war Stralka was frequenty invited to lecture on his experiences while in Buchenwald, as this newspaper article shows.  Scan courtesy of Marge Stralka.

Combat Period: May-Jul 1944.  Carscaddon's later crews were made up of orphans, stranded, and incoming airmen.  Originally a 490th BG crew, arrived at Harrington at the end of May 1944.

 

Crash Aircraft: B24-D 42-95170  "Hell and Back"

The aircraft was salvaged in situ at Ford Field, 19 and 20 July 1944.
 

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